Archive for the ‘Prototyping’ Category

Digi Wireless Design Services helps companies bring ideas to life (and market). With its world-class RF lab, experienced engineers and a library of proven IP, Digi WDS is the trusted partner for many with challenging prototyping requirements. Adam Wolf, a Digi engineer walks us through the process of taking a Seattle Sport Sciences design request and transforming it into a representation of awesomeness in less than a week.

With Hurricane Sandy roaring towards the East Coast, the world is again turning to Twitter to get instant, personal weather reports and photos directly from those affected by the storm. The ability of Twitter to spread pinpoint, as-it-happens information is the exact reason it shines so bright in the face of natural disasters (and civil strife). But for those directly experiencing the hurricane’s dangerous conditions, mindfully tweeting weather updates can quickly become a secondary concern at best.

With the accessibility of easily configurable, low-energy-consuming technology, we can mitigate part of that problem by building a not-too-tricky, self-tweeting weather station. It’s probably too late to put one together for Hurricane Sandy, but for upcoming weather situations it’s a good way to help keep people informed with data and details.

One of the easiest approaches to the project involves setting up an Arduino-controlled weather monitoring system. The easily programmed, modular ability of the Arduino platform allows for a variety of add-on sensors to be utilized, including temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. These sensors can be found pre-built onto one Arduino board, as is the case with SparkFun’s USB Weather Board, which adds the capability for its data to be recorded or shared via its USB output, or wirelessly with an optional Xbee or Bluetooth module.

Right now we have a big pile of different sensors, lights, motors, scent emitters and more that just came in. We’re going to demonstrate XBee hookups for ’em all, then show how they can be linked to one another, hooked up to computers and connected to the Internet. From breathalyzers to joysticks and from wind sensors to fluid meters we’re creating a modular toolbox that should jumpstart all kinds of innovative and practical XBee projects. Come and see the beginnings: